February 02, 2005

Walking on water

Malmö was covered in snow all last week, and the canal finally froze over. I've been waiting for that for ages, after promises from Patrick that snow and ice would make it feel warmer. On Friday I was hanging eagerly over the bridge wondering if the ice was solid, when I realised that a seagull was walking on top of the water. Either it was solid or else it was a seagull Jesus.

It was a very surreal week. Everything looked different with a layer of clean white snow, and it was actually warmer and sunnier (perhaps because the sunlight reflects off the snow?). I was coming home via Gustav Adolfs Torg one day when there was a children's concert on. The children here are so cute in their snow suits, little faces peeking out from layers of downy waterproofness. They were all sitting on their fathers' shoulders to watch the concert. From the back, it looked like an audience composed entirely of super-tall super-sausagey children with little pom-pom hats. I wished I had a camera.

Unfortunately, this week the snow (and the picture-postcard prettiness) has melted and the canal is covered in ice-slush muck instead.

I heard today that I passed the Nationella Prov. Yay me! I'm pleased with myself because I sat the test a couple of months ahead of schedule. This means that I finished the SFI course instead of abandoning it half-way through. That's a nicer way to leave, and it's a tiny confidence boost for my Swedish
(when we say 'tiny', I've been dancing around the house telling everyone I can speak Swedish now - and I've got a certificate to prove it!). ;)

So next week I'll be going to London. Woo. I'm nervous and excited and sad and all those predictable things. I've been there lots of times, and yet I really don't know what to expect.